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I’m looking for a little help with identifying whether I’ve got Dino’s or Cyano. Anyone with thoughts would be greatly appreciated. It’s brown and there are a few bubbles. Apologies for the blue light pics. Thanks

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It’s brown. That’s why I was asking. I’ve had the dark red cyano in other tanks and would recognize that if I had it. I’ve never to my knowledge had Dino’s and I know cyano can come in other colors so I was looking for some assistance with the ID. I’d rather deal with cyano than Dino’s.

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It’s brown. That’s why I was asking. I’ve had the dark red cyano in other tanks and would recognize that if I had it. I’ve never to my knowledge had Dino’s and I know cyano can come in other colors so I was looking for some assistance with the ID. I’d rather deal with cyano than Dino’s.

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The jar test mentioned above is a great test to know for sure. The issue with the pictures is the blue light which hides the true color of things and makes for less color contrast. That makes more difficult to tell what we are looking at than low resolution pictures. White lighting is best for ID purposes.

If it is diatoms, cyanobacteria, or the start of GHA an herbivore can help with that. Rabbit fish and tangs are a great option if your tank is big enough but don't eat red cyanobacteria. Cerith and trochus snails will eat all 3 though. Gold ring cowries are also good choices for GHA and green and brown algae.

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I’m going to try the jar test when I get home. I’ll try to get a pic with just whites. I’ll need to figure out the controls on the Radion first or hook up my laptop to it. I did brush some off of the frag plug and rock sound the micromusa and it came off really easy. It had a dusty like quality to it.

When last checked nitrates were at about 25 on the Salifert kit. Phosphates were at 0.04 on the Ultra Low Hanna Checker. I scrubbed the rocks and have done a 25% water change since then but have not had a chance to re-test. Too much life and work going on. I am going to try and get some testing done this afternoon if time permits.

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When last checked nitrates were at about 25 on the Salifert kit. Phosphates were at 0.04 on the Ultra Low Hanna Checker. I scrubbed the rocks and have done a 25% water change since then but have not had a chance to re-test. Too much life and work going on. I am going to try and get some testing done this afternoon if time permits.

I had dinos and beat them. Water changes are generally not recommended for dinos for two reasons.

1) You get dinos from bottoming out nutrients usually. So to correct you usually end up dosing them back in. Changing water reduces nutrients thus is self defeating.

2) One of the modes for reducing the dino bloom is by increasing competition. It is believed that the competition wins when the Fe gets low or depleted. Water changes can add more Fe and fuel dino blooms.

Another important note is that over feeding is not the recommended means to increase nutrients. Food has other stuff in it besides nitrates and phosphates like sulfer. Dosing inorganic sources of nutrients are preferred because dinos take in organic forms more readily. Thus the inorganic sources give the competition another advantage.

Well-Known Member

I had dinos and beat them. Water changes are generally not recommended for dinos for two reasons.

1) You get dinos from bottoming out nutrients usually. So to correct you usually end up dosing them back in. Changing water reduces nutrients thus is self defeating.

2) One of the modes for reducing the dino bloom is by increasing competition. It is believed that the competition wins when the Fe gets low or depleted. Water changes can add more Fe and fuel dino blooms.

Another important note is that over feeding is not the recommended means to increase nutrients. Food has other stuff in it besides nitrates and phosphates like sulfer. Dosing inorganic sources of nutrients are preferred because dinos take in organic forms more readily. Thus the inorganic sources give the competition another advantage.

Thank you, I’m learning a lot from the responses. I’m not sure if this is dinos yet and I’ve been so busy with work I have not had much of a chance to implement a plan. Fish and coral are happy, tank is ugly, I will eventually work it out or let it run it’s course.

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Ok, I finally had some time to test and take some pics under white light. Currently nitrate is about 10 on the Salifert test and phosphate is at 0.07 on the Hanna ULR. I’ve taken a toothbrush to this a couple of times and it comes off real easy but it’s also back within a day. If this is anything other than Dino’s I’m generally inclined to just let it run it’s course.